Today, The Night Watch is one of the most famous paintings of all time, its creator lionized as one of the greatest artists to ever live. Meanwhile, the Koerten “thread painting” that once commanded a higher price than Rembrandt’s group portrait is lost, and its creator is virtually unknown to the general public. - Smithsonian Magazine
Italian prosecutors are investigating claims that members of the Agnelli family arranged for works by Monet and de Chirico to be replaced with forgeries in their villas during an inheritance dispute. - The Times
“The works were part of an exhibition, ‘Salvador Dalí, tra arte e mito’ (Salvador Dalí, between art and myth”) that had been on show in Rome for the first half of the year and last week opened at Parma’s Palazzo Tarasconi.” - AP
“York Minster is one of a very few cathedrals in Britain to have a full-time team of stonemasons working alongside about 50 glaziers, carpenters, painters, gilders and specialist electricians, all focused on preserving a building whose construction began in the early 13th century.” - The New York Times
An anonymous street art collective using the moniker Vjaybombs is behind the satirical artworks (which they call “projection bombs” and “guerrilla projections”), broadcasting them to an Instagram following of almost 100,000. - Hyperallergic
“After previously picking Swiss firm Herzog and de Meuron to design the building, the project was scrapped last year when its budget reportedly ballooned from $400 million to $600 million. (Now the Gallery) has named Formline Architecture and Urbanism + KPMB Architects as the architectural team (to design its first) purpose-built home.” - Georgia Straight (Vancouver)
The University of California, Irvine will take over administration and operating costs for the troubled museum, which this year has weathered the announcement that CEO and director Heidi Zuckerman is leaving her post in December, and the resignation of several board members. - CultureOC
“UC Irvine will oversee the OCMA’s 53,000-square-foot, $98 million facility, which opened in 2022, within the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus in the neighboring city of Costa Mesa. … The new institution will now be named the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art.” - ARTnews
In the late 20th century and into the early 2000s, museums relied on a value proposition of individual prestige: big collections, big buildings, big donors, big sums. For today’s rising generation of patrons, clout alone no longer justifies investment. What they want instead is transparency and meaningful engagement. - Artnet
Bolstered by culture secretary Lisa Nandy’s blunt defense of business partnerships earlier this year, leaders at major institutions, including the V&A, British Museum, and the National Gallery warned that boycotts and public pressure are jeopardizing their survival in an open letter published in May. - Artnet
If you live in Bradford, Britain’s City of Culture for 2025, it will be especially easy - including a “floating fantasy kingdom” where you must remove your shoes to experience the shiny gold floor. - BBC
Perhaps unsurprisingly, “The National Park Service denied a second permit to reinstall the controversial statue, which featured a plaque reading, ‘We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.’” - Los Angeles Times (AOL)
“Just three blocks from Casa Azul, the new museum centers on the artist’s family and her origins. It’s intended to be a prequel of sorts, adding intimate context and texture to what might otherwise feel like a well-known tale.” - The New York Times
